When I was a
kid growing up on a farm in Saskatchewan (think North Dakota, only less
cutting-edge) it seemed I couldn’t get my hands on enough books. Our one-room
school house (think Little House on the Prairie meets Lord of the Flies)
received a rotating number of books every month from the local school library
system. But I always plowed through those before the month was over. As a
results I re-read my favorites many times over.
Those days
are long over. Now it seems I am flooded with books. Every time I go on
Facebook or Twitter, or visit Amazon, Kobo or Audible, I see dozens of books
I’d love to read. And don’t get me started about Goodreads! Or bookstores!
The most
amazing thing of all, is that having identified a book that interests me, I can
have it purchased and downloaded to my Kobo, Kindle or iPad within five minutes
(or less)!
Buying books
is easy, fun…and addictive. But time to read them is increasingly scarce.
So…how to
decide what to read next? For me I usually circulate among the following:
·
The
monthly reads chosen by the “Happy
Bookers” my Calgary reading group
·
New
releases from my favorite authors
·
New
releases getting a lot of “buzz” on Goodreads, Publisher’s Weekly, or the Globe
& Mail (think New York Times,
Canadian style)
·
Older
books I always meant to read…sometime
·
Classic
titles I haven’t yet gotten around to
What about
you? How do you decide which book you’re going to read next? Do you, for
instance, pick up titles you see discussed on Facebook or Twitter? Do you
receive author newsletters and buy a lot of books from those? Or do you
subscribe to discount newsletters like Book Bub or ENT? And hey, does anyone
browse actual book stores anymore?!? I do. Witness this photo taken in Portland
this summer...
I really
want to hear from you on this! To prove it, I have a lovely mug and totebag
which I will be sending to one randomly chosen person who comments below with
their top 3 ways of picking their next read. If your name is chosen you need to
contact me with your mailing address (via Facebook or my website) so I can send
you your prize! (Just follow the links under my name.)
Oh, and
while I have your attention, why not enter my website contest for a grab bag of 10 books? (If you win you won’t have to
worry about what to read next for a long time!)
Happy
Reading!
C. J.
Carmichael
11 comments:
Sometimes it depends on my mood. Recently I've been reading a lot of billionaire romance stories, while a few weeks ago I was all about the contemporary western romance story. Other times it's what's in the media/social media/discussed with friends. Just before the New Year, there was a Harry Potter movie marathon, which inspired me to reread the book series. Then there's the old standard of a new book in the series I've been waiting for, so it moves to the top of the list immediately.
I love your wonderful photo. I do browse in bookstores every so often and enjoy this indulgence since it is not as often as I would like. But I go online and subscribe to various site, publishers. websites, author's newsletters and this gives a great deal of enjoyment and is informative.
I have a lot of books at home, there are certain authors that have series that I follow & I always want to find out what's happening next with that series. I sometimes just look at the books I have & check out what the story is about & pick it that way. Linda May
I peruse many author's websites and receive their newsletters which informs me of their new releases. I love to make a rare trip to the bookstore so that I can stare at and absorb all the books which are available but never do hear about. Reading is my only form of entertainment and it is so meaningful.
I get an e-mail daily from www.bookbub.com on free and cheap ebooks
I check Goodreads if I want to read a particular theme
I get author's newsletters too
Amazon, TBR pile, library
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
Book blogs, word of mouth, browsing in a bookstore (they often have staff picks)
Lil
I always have a good stack at home but they way that grows is by going to book stores. I love looking for new books. So a great cover helps me pick up the book and read on the back. That's the way I find new authors. Book bub is great for eBooks.
Love all these thoughtful responses!And I'm so glad that many of you still enjoy browsing real bookstores. We have to keep supporting them--I can't imagine a world without bookstores.
Karen, I re-watched all the Harry Potter movies this Christmas--made it so poignant for me when Alan Rickman died just a few weeks later. Snape is one of my top 10 favorite fictional characters.
Traveler...love that you read physical and ebooks both. But it seems a lot of people are doing that, right?
Linda, I'm pretty loyal to my favorite authors as well. There's nothing like a really good series is there?
Petite, it's so wonderful to hear that you love reading so much! Especially when there is so much competition for our time these days. I see jcp and Elizabeth like book bub. It is pretty amazing the great books you find there. And Lil, I'd love to know which book blogs you like best.
Thanks for taking time to chat everyone! I'll be announcing a prize winner on Saturday, around noon. Have a nice Friday!
Cheers,
CJ
It usually depends on if I need to read and review some books. I do slip in others when I can. I am a book junkie!
Hi Petite--you are the winner of the mug and totebag! Please send me an email to cj at cjcarmichael dot com with your mailing address!
Cheers,
CJ
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